[oss4lib-discuss] Publication on OSS for Libraries?

LITA would be very interested in having a monographic publication on Open
Source for libraries. As you may know there will be a program at ALA summer
on this topic and it is expected to arouse some interest. You may also know
that Jeremy Frumkin has just completed organizing an upcoming ITAL issue on
this topic.
There has been a lot of discussion on this list about how to get librarians
interested in Open Source Software. As the editor of the LITA guides, I'd
like to propose a concrete project: a LITA guide on OSS for libraries that
has one or more short essays on the theory behind OSS and its history,
followed by a series of sections or chapters that each introduce one open
source software product, with some examples of how it has been used in
libraries. (I could contribute my organization's use of MARC.pm, for
example). This would be a kind of "practical guide to OSS for libraries" --
enough to let people know that it's real and point them to some good resources.
LITA guides are short, practical publications, usually around 60 pages in
length total. They are "how-to" in nature and contain examples, screen
shots and code samples, as appropriate. If we have a handful of OSS
users/developers who could each present one software example, we could have
a nice guide with not a great deal of effort.
If you think this is a good idea, respond to me or to this list. If I get
enough bites (or bytes) I'll work to get LITA's approval and will shepherd
the publication through the ALA publishing process.
----------------------------------------------
Karen Coyle karen.coyle@...
University of California Digital Library
http://www.kcoyle.net 510/987-0567
----------------------------------------------

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LITA would be very interested in having a monographic publication on Open
Source for libraries. As you may know there will be a program at ALA summer
on this topic and it is expected to arouse some interest. You may also know
that Jeremy Frumkin has just completed organizing an upcoming ITAL issue on
this topic.
There has been a lot of discussion on this list about how to get librarians
interested in Open Source Software. As the editor of the LITA guides, I'd
like to propose a concrete project: a LITA guide on OSS for libraries that
has one or more short essays on the theory behind OSS and its history,
followed by a series of sections or chapters that each introduce one open
source software product, with some examples of how it has been used in
libraries. (I could contribute my organization's use of MARC.pm, for
example). This would be a kind of "practical guide to OSS for libraries" --
enough to let people know that it's real and point them to some good resources.
LITA guides are short, practical publications, usually around 60 pages in
length total. They are "how-to" in nature and contain examples, screen
shots and code samples, as appropriate. If we have a handful of OSS
users/developers who could each present one software example, we could have
a nice guide with not a great deal of effort.
If you think this is a good idea, respond to me or to this list. If I get
enough bites (or bytes) I'll work to get LITA's approval and will shepherd
the publication through the ALA publishing process.
----------------------------------------------
Karen Coyle karen.coyle@...
University of California Digital Library
http://www.kcoyle.net 510/987-0567
----------------------------------------------

Thanks for all of the replies regarding a LITA publication -- and if you
haven't yet replied but thought about it, please do.
- I got general replies from: Nick Moffitt, Peter Schlumpf. I hope we can
find a way to exploit their interest.
- Rachel Hamilton-Williams volunteered herself and colleagues at the Koha
project.
- Eric Lease Morgan has (inadvertently, perhaps) volunteered himself to
write the general introductory section.
So what I need now is about 4-6 more folks who can write up their
experience with a piece of OS software. If there is someone who isn't on
this list but who might be a candidate for the job, please do what is
necessary to connect me up with them. And feel free to send my original
query around to other persons or lists.
----------------------------------------------
Karen Coyle karen.coyle@...
University of California Digital Library
http://www.kcoyle.net 510/987-0567
----------------------------------------------